I Became a Kindergarten Teacher for Monster Babies!-Chapter 543 Find them

"I was kidnapped," she replied calmly, enunciating each word clearly. "That is scary. Objectively scary. Most people would agree."

Hellder winced visibly, his shoulders hunching.

"That word sounds aggressive. Very aggressive. Perhaps we could use a different word. ’Visited’ sounds nicer."

"I was not visited. I was taken while unconscious from my home. That is kidnapping by any definition."

Haron rubbed his temples vigorously. "She has a point."

"She does not have a point," Roman snapped. "She is being difficult on purpose."

"I am being honest," Alina corrected sweetly. "There is a difference."

Roman exhaled sharply through his nose.

"You humans are so dramatic. Everything is a crisis. A little darkness, a little unconscious transport, and suddenly it is ’kidnapping’ and ’scary’ and ’I could not breathe.’"

"You are very tall and have horns," she countered.

"That is not relevant."

"It is intimidating. Very intimidating. Especially when you loom."

Hellder shot Roman an annoyed look. "Stop looming. You are looming."

"I am not looming. I am standing."

"Same thing with your face."

Alina watched the exchange with interest, her head turning back and forth like she was watching a tennis match.

Elder Haron muttered quietly, more to himself than anyone, "We should not have taken her. This was a mistake."

Roman shot him a withering glare. "We agreed unanimously."

"I agreed under pressure."

"There was no pressure."

"Your face is pressure."

Alina leaned back slightly against the headboard, observing them with almost academic curiosity.

"You know," she added thoughtfully, tapping her chin, "if he gets angry when he arrives, I will probably cry."

All three elders looked at her at once, their arguments forgotten.

"Do not cry," Roman said immediately, pointing at her. "That is not part of the plan."

"I cry loudly," she informed them, her tone helpful. "Very loudly. And once I start, it is hard to stop. It is a whole thing."

Hellder looked genuinely concerned now, his weathered face creased with worry.

"How loudly? Like sniffles loudly or screaming loudly?"

"Very loudly," she repeated. "The kind of crying that echoes. People in other rooms can hear. They come to check. It is very awkward for everyone."

Haron muttered something unpleasant under his breath, pacing faster.

Roman stepped forward again, trying to regain control of the situation. He planted himself before her, hands on his hips.

"Listen carefully, little human. We only wished to observe. We wished to understand why someone like you caught someone like him. Curiosity, not malice."

"Then you should have asked," she replied simply. "I answer questions all day. It is literally my job."

Silence.

For a long moment, none of them had an answer.

Alina looked down at the bracelet on her wrist again, turning it so the silver caught the light.

"It is pretty though," she admitted softly, almost to herself.

Hellder brightened instantly, latching onto the small victory.

"Yes. Exactly. You like it. That is good. That is very good."

She nodded.

"I do. It is very pretty."

Roman exhaled in relief, his shoulders dropping slightly.

"But," she added gently, looking up at them with those clear eyes, "that does not cancel the kidnapping. The bracelet is nice. The kidnapping was still not nice."

Haron stared at the ceiling as if praying for divine intervention.

Roman’s patience was thinning visibly, his jaw working.

"You are far braver than we expected," he said quietly, something almost like respect in his voice.

Alina tilted her head slightly, considering this.

"I am very scared," she corrected gently. "I am just also a teacher. We learn to handle chaos."

They did not believe her frightened act anymore.

Neither did she.

Meanwhile, Dante stood in the center of his throne room, eyes half-closed, considering his options.

He did not need to search for them.

The elders were lazy. Always had been. They had used the same hidden chamber for decades, returning to it every time they felt threatened, convinced that its ancient wards would protect them. They never bothered to find a new place. Too much effort. Too much walking.

Their brains, he thought with mild contempt, had probably shriveled with age.

He remembered them from when he was younger, just starting to build his reputation. They had been slightly more competent then. Slightly more dangerous. Now they were just old. Old and bitter and foolish enough to kidnap a human teacher because they were curious about why he looked at her.

He almost laughed at their stupidity. They did not have any real power beyond minor court matters. But now—

They had crossed a line. The kind of line that, once crossed, meant there was no going back.

He had tolerated their existence for years. Ignored their petty schemes. Let them live in their crumbling tower with their delusions of importance.

But this?

Taking what was his?

Threatening what he cared about?

No.

It was finally time to remove them.

He opened his eyes.

"Find them," he said quietly.

The shadows in the corners of the room stirred, deepening and thickening. Figures emerged, faceless and silent, waiting.

"The old hiding place. The one with the bad wards and the leaky roof. They never change locations. Too set in their ways."

The shadow guards bowed and melted away.

Dante adjusted his sleeves, and began walking.

He wondered if they had made her comfortable. If they had fed her. If they had been foolish enough to scare her.

If she was crying.

His jaw tightened until something sharp and ancient flickered behind his eyes.

If she was crying, they would not simply regret it.

They would understand what regret truly meant.

Not quickly. Not mercifully. He would not grant them the dignity of a swift ending. He would dismantle them piece by piece, beginning with the things they valued most. Their wards would fail. Their tower would crack. Their influence would crumble. Their names would fade from every record and every whisper in court.

He would take their certainty first. Then their pride. Then their protection.

And only when they were small, stripped of title and illusion, when they finally understood exactly what they had provoked, would he decide whether they were worth the effort of finishing.

He smiled faintly as he walked, and there was nothing warm in it.

Old fools who never evolved.

It was time to clean the courthouse.

Thoroughly.